CHAPTER 31
Gauge moved slowly, carefully, not wanting to do anything to surprise or scare Lena.
What happened over these next few minutes would likely follow them for the rest of their lives.
If he moved too fast, if he hurt her, made her think about what Ngozi had done, then she might struggle in the future to accept him.
He meant to give her total control. And if she decided to stop, they would stop, though at this late stage he knew it would be extremely difficult for him.
“Can I touch you?” Lena asked, her gaze locked on his erection, which pressed against his taut stomach.
“Of course. You can do with me whatever you wish.”
He leaned back against the headboard, forcing his body to relax as she ran her clawed fingertips lightly along his chest. He found it a battle not to reach out to touch her in return, her breasts small but perfectly formed, her waist and hips straighter than most humans.
He longed to reach out and hold her hips as he thrust inside her warm, tight body.
His mate was perfect in his eyes. It didn’t matter if she was a serpent instead of Laizahlian.
He twitched when she tickled her claws along his side.
“Does this bother you?” Lena asked, jerking her hand back a few inches.
“No. I’m sensitive there is all.” Gauge reached out to run his fingertips lightly along her waist, deliberately tickling. He wasn’t sure if it would feel the same through her scales but suspected so when she twitched away.
Lena giggled. “I see what you mean. Are there other places on your body that are sensitive to touch?”
Gauge smiled, and knew it reached his eyes. “You will have to learn them for yourself, my mate.” As he meant to learn everything about her body.
She grinned, licking her lips. “I’m looking forward to it.” Lena reached behind his head and loosened the leather tie that held his hair in place. She pulled the long strands forward, running her claws along the thick, silvery-blond streaks. “Do all vampires have blond hair?”
“No, though it is more common than any other color. Black, like yours used to be, is very unusual, but not unheard of.”
“What causes these silver streaks? They are beautiful, not the same color gray as those who are elderly. It is a true silver.”
“We gain more and more silver as we age. Our council chairman has very little, if any, blond left. He is one of the oldest of our kind.”
Lena looked up. “How old are you, Gauge?”
He had to stop and think about it. He had fought Djinn during the last great war on Earth three thousand years ago.
Before that, he’d been sent by his council as a guardian of humans, there to make sure the Djinn didn’t carry their abuse too far.
The council would not have sent anyone young to deal with Djinn.
Gauge was uncertain of his exact age, but he could make an educated guess. “Are you worried about my age, Lena?”
“No. Just curious. You’ve never really told me much about yourself.”
“My best estimate is four thousand years. It is easy to lose track of time when one has lived so long.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth dropping open. “I’ve barely lived a quarter of a century. No wonder you call me a child.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Lena. I’m not sure if I can explain.
No matter how long I’ve lived, or how much I know, there is always more to learn.
There will always be new events to experience.
Times change. People change. Worlds change.
With each new generation, I need to find a way to change with them.
Most of what I knew three thousand years ago would not be of much use in today’s world.
I’ve learned that you can meet someone who is very, very old, but who’s never matured.
They are immature, selfish, and will remain so for the rest of their lives.
And you can meet someone who is very young, but still wise in the ways of the world.
They are old souls in a young body. Common sense plays a big part.
You would be surprised by how many people don’t have any.
Life experience also plays a part. Each person must be judged on their own merits. ”
“What do you see when you look at me?”
“I see a female who was severely wounded but is working hard to rise above it. I see a female who isn’t afraid to reach out and grab what she wants.
I see a female who isn’t afraid to take an ancient Laizahlian Hunter as her mate.
You might be surprised to learn how many female Laizahlian pray it won’t ever happen to them.
They would prefer anyone but an aged Hunter.
I see great strength in you, Lena. You are not a child, and I regret ever calling you one. ”
She blinked, then blinked again. Her mouth dropped open, as if she wanted to say something, but then she closed it again. Gauge waited, letting her digest what he’d said. “Do you really see all that in me?”
“I do, and so much more. I consider you my equal, Lena. It doesn’t matter how many years there are between us.
” Gauge reached out to cup her chin, forcing her to look up.
“I’ve said it before, and it remains the truth.
I will not always be an easy male to live with.
I have spent centuries working as little more than an emotionless machine for the council.
I became the dead, empty thing humans believed me to be.
I followed my orders even when I might have disagreed with them, but I never allowed it to bother me.
I didn’t allow myself to feel. You, Lena, have made me feel again.
I admit I found it disconcerting at first. I didn’t know if I wanted to deal with strong emotions.
I ask for your patience as I learn to rein them in again. ”
She frowned. “You mean you don’t want to feel?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” He cupped the back of her head, drawing her in for a soft kiss.
“I mean, right now my emotions are out of control. It’s all I can do not to ravish you right now.
I need you, Lena. Please, take me, use me, then you can ask whatever you want, and I will do my best to answer. ”
She smiled, pressing her lips against his again, her tongue teasing at his mouth. When his erection twitched against her stomach, he took it as a positive sign when she didn’t try to draw away.
Lena sat back, and this time he saw determination in her eyes, when what he wanted to see was lust. He stopped her when she tried to rise up enough to take him inside her.
“I thought this is what you wanted,” she said, her expression somewhere between puzzled and hurt.
“Do you trust me, Lena?”
“Of course.”
“I want you to lie back on the bed. Can you do that for me? I’m not going to take you yet, not until I’m sure it’s what you want.”
Lena frowned, then slowly nodded. Gauge helped her slide off his lap, then she lay down on the bed, her legs held tightly together.
Gauge scooted down and rolled to his side, gently cupping her cheek. “You asked me to show you how it is meant to be between mates. I would like to do this for you. Will you let me?”
She nodded, though rising nerves made her lower lip tremble.
“Good, try to relax. I won’t hurt you,” he murmured. Gauge leaned over her, careful to keep several inches between their lower bodies. He started at her ear, drawing her lobe into his mouth, gently sucking. Aware this would be a sensitive area, he smiled when she shivered.
He spent a few moments at her ears, then began to gently nibble along her neck, stopping for a moment at the fast pulse thumping strongly along her jugular.
He touched the tips of his fangs at that pulse, feeling it jump in anticipation.
Not yet, little one, he thought, knowing his bite could bring her intense pleasure.
He wanted her to know there were many pleasurable spots on her body.
Lena moaned, her small fists curled around his hair, trying to hold him to her. Gauge took a moment to peek inside her thoughts, smiling when he found confusion, but no fear. His little mate had no idea what pleasures her body could bring, but he planned to show her.
He moved next to her breast, licking along the areola before he drew the nipple into his mouth.
She shivered and began to squirm as he began to gently suck.
His other hand moved to the left breast, squeezing lightly.
He noticed the scarring caused by Ngozi’s mauling was now absent, the new scales bright and shiny.
“Gauge,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing to me?” She began to rub her legs against the bedspread. They had taken out the tarp and ruined blankets after Lena finished shedding her skin, replacing them with clean sheets and covers.
“I’m loving you,” he murmured. It pleased him that she barely noticed when he climbed over the top of her thighs, her thoughts on what he was doing with her breasts. Gauge knew the sucking motion against her breasts would affect her sex. He could feel the gentle pulse when he entered her mind.
As she squirmed beneath him, he began to kiss and lick his way farther down her stomach and hips.
Lena was so young, her hormones raging. He knew it wouldn’t take much to give her an orgasm if he could keep her mind off what Ngozi had done.
He seriously doubted the Raiden prince had given her oral sex.
He’d gotten off on her pain, not her pleasure.
He kissed along her hipbone, the scales changing as he drew closer to her core, becoming lighter, softer where humans would normally grow hair.
“Open your legs for me,” he murmured, smiling when she subconsciously pressed her groin against his face.
Gauge didn’t rush her. He continued to touch and kiss his way down her thighs, her legs.
“Gauge,” she said breathlessly.
“Open for me, Lena. Trust me. You are safe with me.”